Will Smith signs his John Hancock to reclaim title as Fourth of July king
Release date: 2 July 2008
By Jerilyn Covert
Even superheroes have their rough patches. It just takes a super intervention, some homemade meatballs and an adoring young fan to get them through it. Such is the case with Hancock, a deadbeat alcoholic and a flying man with bulletproof skin. A hero and a menace. Until one day, an ambitious public relations analyst with a lot of faith and not much to lose offers to repair Hancock’s image. Except, as it turns out, the guy does actually have something to lose–namely, his wife, who gets pretty cozy with the flame retardant superhero. But don’t worry. It’s all part of the story. There’s also some action scenes, some laugh-worthy physical comedy, a running gag or two, bad guys, henchmen, lots of bottles of bourbon, a pretty big plot twist and a small handful of heartwarming moments. In other words, it’s got everything you’d want out of a 92-minute piece of mindless entertainment. And that’s precisely what it is.
Directed by Peter Berg, Hancock tells the story of a troubled superhero who, despite superpowers, just can’t seem to turn his life around. Physically, he’s invincible, but emotionally, he’s a wreck. The patently lovable Will Smith shines as the detestable John Hancock, an immortal being with superpowers who, despite a calling to save peoples’ lives and put bad guys in jail, is widely viewed as an asshole. As Nancy Grace notes in her cameo in the film, Hancock, who has several warrants out for his arrest, considers himself above the law. Considering there’s no prison in the world that could hold him, he kind of is. At any rate, he doesn’t seem to feel any moral obligations, any requisite for propriety or any need for public approval. In fact, his only need appears to be bourbon, lots of it. That’s where Ray Embrey (Jason Bateman) comes in. He’s a big-hearted public relations expert with ambitions to make the world a better place. When a chance meeting with Hancock arises, he’s quick to see the possibilities for the down-and-out superhero. As he correctly observes, a superhero should be loved and adored. He saves peoples’ lives, for crying out loud! After he convinces Hancock to trust him, Ray quickly develops a master plan to get Hancock back into the peoples’ good graces. Step one: Go to jail. But even as Hancock’s image starts to improve, new conflicts arise. Something’s going on between Hancock and Ray’s wife, Mary (Charlize Theron). And as the plot unravels, we learn more about Hancock’s past–and what that means for his future.
Perhaps that’s what makes Hancock so intriguing. Because while the film may be riding the superhero-movie wave that seems to be cresting right about now, the thing that makes it stand out is that, unlike the rest of the pack, the story starts from scratch. Amid a sea of superhero comic-book film adaptations, Hancock offers us new characters and a whole new superhero mythology. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a couple sequels fleshing out that mythology in the coming years, especially given the film’s success: $164 million so far, according to the latest numbers on imdb.com. It’s also a relevant film, riffing off a celebrity- and talk show-obsessed culture in which genuine do-gooders like Ray may be considered no more than idealists and dreamers, and are almost as hard to find as superheroes themselves. But after all, when a man with superpowers loses his way, he needs a man with super faith to show him the way back.